Antiphony-Chris Katsaropoulos

Accompanied by his wife Ilene and leaving the Midwest winter behind, Theodore Reveil is in Santa Rosa, California to present his paper on Perturbation Theory at the New International Perspectives on String Theory Symposium. Just before his talk, he is upset with Ilene for planning to skip his session for a massage.

Nervous as he hates speeches, Theodore becomes undone when he cannot find his two pages of notes filled with supporting math that were his crutches. As attendees impatiently wait for his arrival, late Reveil hesitantly appears without his papers. Winging it, Reveil ignores his physics expertise to ask participating scientists: “What if the universe … is really a giant thought?” He angers the audience who reject the notion of a spiritual divine being running the universe.

With the debate between supporters of evolution and creationism (recently highlighted by Bill Nye and Ken Ham), Antiphony is an intriguing timely tale. As readers observe the protagonist’s everyday life, we wonder whether Reveil’s revelation means he is losing his mind or finding a spiritual awakening that will ultimately lead him to the asylum or the Universe’s Final Unified Field Theory. Fans who prefer something offbeat will appreciate Chris Katsaropoulos’ profound character study of a physicist on the brink of discovery, insanity or both.